Tricks and treats: the 2005 Italian electoral law and its consequences

Abstract:

In autumn 2005, a few months before the April 2006 elections, the ruling coalition Casa delle Libertà (House of Freedoms) decided to reform the Italian electoral law. This article analyses the fundamentally partisan reasons leading to the reform and the outcome. The new electoral law is a form of proportional representation with closed lists which allocates a sizable seat bonus to the coalition obtaining the highest number of votes.

The article concludes by suggesting that under the old law the House of Freedoms might have won the national election. Seen in the light of its blatant partisan purposes, the new Italian electoral law simply backfired.